1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric relay used for a starter relay, etc., which is mounted on a vehicle, and in particular, to an electric relay used for turning on and off an electric current in a vehicle side power supply system, for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, in the case of starting an engine for a vehicle, electric power is supplied to a switch coil of a starter in order to start the starter.
At this time, there has been applied a technique in which an electric current supplied from a vehicle side power supply system to the switch coil is relatively large, so the electric current is not directly supplied to a starter switch, but instead, by the use of an electric relay (a starter relay), a small electric current from a vehicle side is caused to flow to an exciting coil of the electric relay so that a fixed contact member of the electric relay is closed, thereby supplying an electric current from the power supply for a vehicle to the starter switch (for example, refer to a first patent document).
Here, in cases where a connector is to be mounted on an exciting terminal of the exciting coil in order to improve the connection workability and the environmental resistance of the exciting terminal of the exciting coil, when the connector (connector with one pole) connected only to an upstream side of the exciting coil of a relay main body is used, it is necessary to fasten the connector by screws from a rear side of the exciting terminal, or it is necessary to set for exclusive use a member which is composed of the connector and a cap of the relay main body which are integrally formed with each other.
However, in cases where the connector is fixedly secured to the exciting terminal of the relay main body by means of the screws, the connector is supported on the relay main body only through the exciting terminal, and hence becomes very unstable.
In addition, in the case of an integral-type electric relay having a connector and a cap formed integral with each other, it is necessary to provide the cap for exclusive use for each connector, and the cost for production thereof becomes high.
In addition, in cases where a connector (connector with two poles) connected to both an upstream side and a downstream side of an exciting coil of a relay main body is used, it is necessary to pull out a lead wire from an exciting terminal, to arrange the connector at a tip end of the lead wire, and to fixedly secure the connector to an arbitrary position at the side of a vehicle.
In this case, because it is necessary to fixedly secure the connector with the lead wire to the arbitrary position at the side of the vehicle, the layouting of the connector is difficult, thus giving rise to an increase in cost.